Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-02-19

docfon' expedients should be repudi-
atsd. a. being needless a. well as
pernicious.
First. as TO water (which. after all. il
the most abundant Ingredient of wine.
since it constitutes from 81 to 81 per
cent. of dry xines). it must, of necessity,
be used in the legitimate industry by
which evsporated or condensed" must
| is converted in o vine by fermentation.
Its use is also justifable when by nat
ursi evaporation. in certain seasons, the
| grape laioe contains too much sugar to
| allow of being fermen-ed into dry wine,
while light bodied musts are not avail
able for blending. The requirements Of
4 sound fermentation limit Its excessive
use prior TO that process; but the
stretching" of fermented wines by its
sjaitirn Is liable to gross abuse. When
heavy, red wines need dilution to con-
form to the requirements of the market,
an abundance of light wines can be
soand Tor the purpose. Those of the
Fclle Blanche, Suliana. Burger aud 9TH
ess are as neu raj rs could be desired,
| if suitable light red wines should not be
atalAzDft 1utTf Is no tfii0 cACuSc lOT
the use of water after fermentation.
Sugar is next in quantity to water. In
the sunny climate of California a serious
deficiency Of sugar is quite exceptional,
provided the vineyard has been stocked
with due regard to the local climate. A
simple calculation shows that at the
ruling prices and the average produc
tion of grapes per acre, the natural sugar
Of The grape is the cheapest available,
since the best of commercial glucose in.
PRODUCES into the wine elements of in
stability, as well as other Objectionable
features impossible TO overcome. Re.
fined cane or beet sugar, when added to
must prior to fermentation, is promptly
converted into pure grape sugar and fer
ments out as such. Hence its use for
the purpose of Strengthening weak
musts would seem to stand on the same
basis as that of water for the opposite
purpose; the sugar introduced becoming
in every respect as identical with that of
the grape. as the water. On the score
of cost alone, however, it would in prac.
rice naturally be superseded by that of
condensed must. so soon as this material
shall be generally available.
kaS 1ERALuS AO4 O4kluC1ilDu Will dlCOlOi
in the shape Of s'neutral spirit" instead
of grape spirit, as advocated in the late
district convention, it must be admitted
that really neutral" spirit would be
Questionable mainly on grounds of true
policy, in diminishing the market for
our own brandy product. But most of
the commercial article would infallibly
make its presence felt in any delicate
wine for years.
As regards acid. all "cresm of tartar"
is the product of the grape, and SO is
tarsarie acid. There can be no intrinsic
objection to the introduction of as much
tartar as any body may desire, into must
or wine. Tsrtaric acid stands on q
slightly different basis. as its presence,
In place of Its naturally occurring com.
pound, renders the wine more liable to
''turning" and other troubles. Those
who attempt TO use it on the large scale
will also find that here, again, it is bet.
ter to provide against any such expen-
sive necessity by planting OF purchasing
a proper selection of acid grapes, by
blending which with such troublesome
varieties as Trousseau, Mission and
others. q healthy fermentation can al.
ways be secured.
Giycerine and carbonic gas are natural
products of wine fermentation. But no
well made wine requires the addition of
glycerine. which serves mainly to hyde
avoid.ble faults. Carbonic gas is
legitimate ingredient of wine whenever
wanted.
Color is probably the point which
gives rise 10 mere sophistication than
any other; not only because the valley
wines, which thus far have formed SO
large a proportion Of the vintage, are
generally deiicientincoior. but chiefly be.
cause in the stretching" of wines. the
color is that which suffers most obvious.
ly, ard is most readily initiated by out
side additions Sd as to satisfy the aver
age consumer.
Bat since our vineyards have assembled
from the valleys into the hill country.
ihs supply cf color proves to be as
abundant in this State as anywhere in
the world. In fact, it would be difficult
to find heavier showing Of color per
acre than that Of tine Gros Verdot
at Cupertino, which, with tint about
three times as deep as that of the aver.
age Zinfandel wine, yielded at the rate
Of about twenty-five tons Of grapes, or
say $500 gallons of wine per acre, COM
pering in cheapness with "cherry juice"
The Grossblaue, the Bouschets and 9th.
ers are similarly available for the more
common wines, while for those of high
degree we have the Cabernets, Beclan,
Tannst, etc.
In regard to tannin, it was at one
time thought that Calf Jrnia wines were
iike ly to be deficient, and this remains
true of most of the valley wines; but
the products of the hill vineyards leave
little excuse for the use of tannin from
outside sources. Both sides of the Santa
Clara valley, as well as the hills of
Napa and Sonoms, and even portions of
The San Joaquin valley, have furnished
| wines of extraordinary tannin contents.
There viii be little difficulty in securing,
hereafter, a snfhciency of blending
wines for bringing clsrets up to the Bor-
deaux standard in this respect.
Commercial lcak) tannin is not,
chemically or hygienically, the same as
| wine tannin, and its use should. as
rule, be restricted to the fining process.
This process. as now largely practiced,
is responsible for great deal OF the
fault found elsewhere with California
wines. Our winemakers have not mas.
tered the fact that fining is the last pro-
cess in the finishing of wine; that it is
IN every instance an evil with respect to
the delicacy and zsst of the product, and
should be praeticed as sparingly as pos.
sible; and that a very large proportion
of wela-made. sound wines never need
tining at all, If subjected to appropriate
after-Ireatment, notably to frequent
racking and aeration. 1t is here, espe-
cially, that hygienic treatment, instead
of medication needs to be generally
adopted
Finally, when wines are not entirely
sound-and with the methods of fer.
mentation now in vogue this is a very
prevalent condition-the remedy to be
applied should not lie in the use of anti,